Refinery Fire in NY/NJ

[Kym]

Hi everyone,

There is a huge petroleum refinery on fire on Staten Island right now. A friend of mine who lives near it said:
The house jumped from the explosion. Upper Narrows Bridge and West Shore Exp. closed. Outerbridge open only to emergency vehicles. Spreading towards NJ, which I guess is better than towards the tanks at the Staten Island refinery at this point. No word as to injuries. Evacuation of residents within one mile.

They don't know what caused it yet, but the fire is enormous, shooting 1500 ft flames into the air.

[Kym]

They're saying it was an accident. I can't tell you how my skin crawled this morning when I heard the news. Total 9/11 flashback!

[smileysal]

I hope they are able to contain the fire. What a horiable day for the workers, fire fighters, and residents. Last week there was a fire at oil refinery about 15 miles from where I live. Thank God there were no injuries. The gas prices went up for a couple of days because of it.